Functional Background Diversity Research Articles

Top management team characteristics, technological innovation and firm's greenwashing: Evidence from China's heavy-polluting industries

Greenwashing has become an important strategy for firms to cope with the huge pressure brought by environmental sustainability and win environmental legitimacy. Based on the upper echelon theory and legitimacy theory, this study uses the grounded theory research method to develop the scale of firm's degree of greenwashing specialized with Chinese characteristics, and empirically tests the relationships among top management team (TMT) characteristics, technological innovation, and firm's greenwashing. The results show that TMT education level has a significantly negative effect on firm's greenwashing, while TMT functional background diversity has a significantly positive effect on firm's greenwashing. Technological innovation has a significantly negative impact on firm's greenwashing, and significantly moderates the relationships between TMT age and firm's greenwashing and between TMT functional background diversity and firm's greenwashing, respectively. Our findings provide references for managers and policy makers to understand the influence of TMT characteristics on firm's greenwashing as well as the effective weakening effect of technological innovation on firm's greenwashing.

The Influence of Board Diversity and Board Conflict on Performance in Consumer Cooperatives in South Korea

Board of directors are important elements in the structure and management of cooperatives. This study examines the relationships between cooperative board diversity (i.e., value and functional) and three performance variables (social performance, operational performance, and democratic performance). Additionally, we hypothesize that conflict (task or relational) mediates these relationships. We argue that decision making, policy, and performance depend on the composition of a board. The empirical analysis, using a sample of 423 female board members in 66 local consumer cooperatives in South Korea, finds that board value diversity can have a negative effect on performance, even though their functional background diversity may be positive, while conflicts over performing tasks may mediate functional background diversity and performance. More specifically, the results indicate that board value diversity is positive and significantly related to relational conflicts, while functional background diversity is negative and significantly related to task conflicts. The findings suggest that performance of cooperatives can be improved with more diverse board with functional backgrounds. We hope that this paper could offer a significant contribution to both the board and corporate governance literature and the diversity literature.

Task conflict and team performance: roles of expertise disparity and functional background diversity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test a contingency model in which the relationship between task conflict and team performance depends on the extent to which team members differ in their levels of expertise and functional backgrounds.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from 71 student teams that completed a semester-long entrepreneurial project.FindingsThe results support the moderating role of expertise disparity in the process through which task conflict contributes to team performance. Task conflict had a curvilinear effect (inverted-U) on team performance in teams with high expertise disparity. In contrast, in teams with low expertise disparity, the relationship between task conflict and team performance was found to be linear and positive. The moderating role of functional background diversity was not supported.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper shows that the relationship between task conflict and team performance can exist in both a linear and a curvilinear fashion, and that what determines the form of the relationship has to do with a team’s diversity characteristics. The focus of future conflict research should be whether and how teams can realize the possible beneficial effects of task conflict, not whether task conflict is simply good or bad.Practical implicationsManagers may deliberately consider the differences in expertness among members when creating teams or assigning members to a team. Further, they may want to avoid extensive task conflict when a team’s expertise levels are unevenly distributed to lessen expected performance loss.Originality/valueThis study’s examination of the roles of two moderators in catalyzing the processes through which potential effects of task conflict are realized enhances the understanding of equivocal results in conflict research. The empirical evidence that this study provides informs a long-standing debate in the conflict literature – whether task conflict is functional or dysfunctional for teams – in a new, insightful way.

Learning from Alliance Partners: The Interplay Between CEODuality And TMTFunctional Background Diversity

Purpose – Strategic alliances are essential vehicles for knowledge acquisition from alliance partners especially in the technology related sectors. This research examines the interplay between top management team (TMT) functional background diversity and CEO duality on learning from alliance partners. Design/methodology/approach – Data for 1012 strategic alliances from Information and Communications sectors (computer equipment, electronics and telecommunications) in US are collected from multiple databases: Firm data is retrieved from Compustat database, strategic alliance date is retrieved from SDC Platinum database, patent data is retrieved from NBER database and finally the TMT information is coded from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) database. We tested our hypotheses using the negative binomial regression model since our dependent variable is discrete and non-negative (patent citation counts). Findings – CEO duality moderates the relationship between TMT functional background and learning from alliance partner such that the effect of TMT functional background on learning from alliance partner is positive when CEO does not have dual roles and negative when he or she does. Discussion – This study contributes to the strategic alliance and inter-organizational learning literature by demonstrating the roles of influential actors in the strategy process (i.e., the CEO and TMT). The study findings also extend the scope of upper echelons literatures by establishing the relevance of upper echelons theory for a novel dependent variable (i.e., learning from alliance partners).

Top Management Team Diversity and the moderating effect of Discretionary Accounting Choices on Financial Reporting Quality among Commercial State Corporations in Kenya

The study aims to examine the moderating effect of discretionary accounting choices on the relationship between top management demographic diversity and financial reporting quality among state commercial firms in Kenya based on 248 firm-year observations for 2004 -2015. The study used correlational research design to achieve the sought objectives. It lays a broad foundation for the future research work into the theory and practice of financial reporting quality in commercial state corporations. The findings clearly reveal that, there exist both positive and negative relationship between discretionary accounting choices and financial reporting quality. However, the relationship varies with each financial reporting quality proxy measures. The demographic variables that were statistically significant in explaining FRQ were; age, education, tenure, gender and functional background diversity. Hence, managerial characteristics matter in explaining discretionary accounting choices and financial reporting quality in the companies. Despite the findings showed minimal significant effects on earnings quality and timeliness. Discretionary accounting choices should not be used by the management opportunistically but should be used to enhance quality reporting. The study recommends that stakeholders in commercial state corporations should ensure that discretionary accounting choices is improved to decrease manipulations of accounting information in order to increase the quality of reporting.

Does New Venture Team Power Hierarchy Enhance or Impair Venture Performance? It Depends

Does power hierarchy in new venture team (NVT) enhance or impair venture performance? In this paper, we integrate the functional and dysfunctional views of power hierarchy and propose that the effect of NVT power hierarchy on new venture performance is contingent upon NVT characteristics (i.e., functional background diversity and team familiarity) and powerholder characteristic (i.e., prior founding experience). Specifically, we argue that the relationship between NVT power hierarchy and new venture performance is positive when team functional background diversity is high but negative when functional background diversity is low. Similarly, the relationship between NVT power hierarchy and new venture performance is positive when team familiarity is low but negative when team familiarity is high. Furthermore, these two sets of interaction effects are strengthened by the powerholder’s prior founding experience. Our hypotheses are supported based on a five-year panel data of 460 observations from 285 NEEQ-listed new ventures in China.

Effects of Diversity on Knowledge Sharing and Creativity of Work Teams: Status Differential Among Members as a Facilitator

ABSTRACTWe investigated a plausible intermediate process and a boundary condition that elaborates the diversity–team creativity relationship to address mixed findings on the relationship between diversity and creativity. Our analysis using multi-source data collected from 128 work groups showed that age diversity and functional background diversity had negative and positive effects, respectively, on knowledge sharing and subsequent team creativity. Moreover, the effects of the four diversity attributes (age, gender, functional background, and tenure) on knowledge sharing were all negative in groups with low status differential, whereas the same effects became significantly positive in groups with high status differential. This study demonstrates a mechanism through which group diversity facilitates team creativity based on the information processing view of diversity and the functional approach to social status.

Developing Effective Top Management Team at Vietnamese SMEs

Developing Effective Top Management Team at Vietnamese SMEs

The influence of team reflexivity and shared meta-knowledge on the curvilinear relationship between team diversity and team ambidexterity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explicate the influence of diverse team on team-level ambidexterity and its curvilinear assessment, and test the mediating role of team reflexivity and the moderating role of shared meta-knowledge in the curvilinear relationship between team diversity and team ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected multisource and temporally separated data on 206 R&D teams within 28 high-tech firms in Taiwan.FindingsThis study found a complex, curvilinear, moderated mediation relationship that functional background diversity has with team ambidexterity. Furthermore, consistent with the notion from categorization-elaboration model, the authors found the curvilinear relationship that functional background diversity has with both team ambidexterity and team reflexivity. Finally, the authors also found that the curvilinear relationship between functional background diversity and team reflexivity was moderated by shared meta-knowledge, such that the positive relationship was strengthened and the negative relationship weakened, in higher shared meta-knowledge in teams rather than lower.Originality/valueThe results demonstrate that team diversity-team ambidexterity relationship is much more complicated than previous works have assumed or suggested. Overall, the authors contribute to a novel understanding about the importance of team diversity in ambidextrous teams by opening the black box of how and when functional background diversity and team ambidexterity.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Small Enterprise Organizational Ambidexterity: An Empirical Analysis of Italian Manufacturing Firms

This study contributes to the emerging dialogue on the relationships between top management team (TMT) functional background diversity, organizational ambidexterity and company performance. Although small firms (SEs) represent a fundamental component of every nation’s economy, to our knowledge SEs have never been considered as specific units of analysis in the context of this dialogue. Therefore, logistic regression was applied to a sample of 502 Italian manufacturing SEs, 244 operating in the fashion industry and 258 operating in other low technology industries. The principal findings are the following: i) there is a significant and positive relationship between SE TMT diversity and SE organizational ambidexterity; ii) the chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) functional background and power act as moderators in this relationship; iii) there is a significant and positive relationship between SE organizational ambidexterity and SE performance and this relationship is positively moderated by the level of complexity of the industry environment.

Board Of Directors’ Diversity And Effect On Strategy. A Study Of The Lebanese Banking Industry

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the functional background diversity of boards of directors on banks’ strategy. This relationship is examined using the annual reports between 2005 and 2014 for 16 Lebanese banks. Logistic regression analysis indicates that board diversity is positively associated with the strategies adopted by banks. Implications for both strategic management and future research are discussed.

Diversity Management Strategies and Quality Decisions in the Banking Sector

The Top Management Team diversity discussed in the study is the extent to which the executive team is heterogeneous with respect to gender, age, academic qualifications, tenure, professional qualifications and functional backgrounds and how this aids quality decisions in the banking sector. Furthermore the study suggests that top management characteristics, specifically their demographic configuration could impair decision making which is the main objective and focus. Other researchers have shown that workforce diversity can provide positive organizational outcomes such as increased morale, higher satisfaction, greater commitment and improved performance. The questionnaire was the main tool of data collection. Cross sectional survey was adapted as the methodology of research where the target respondents were Heads of Human Resources in 43 banks. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The TMT diversity attributes under study were age, gender, academic qualifications, tenure in the bank and at the top, professional and functional background diversity. These variables were used to determine the existing gaps in knowledge, whether these attributes were crucial in making quality decisions. The study also used secondary data obtained from the Banking sector to measure performance in terms of increase in customer deposits, increase in average assets and profit before tax. The study established that tenure in the banking sector has a major implication in the quality of decisions made within the Top Management Teams of organizations.

Effects of Top Management Team Heterogeneous Background and Behavioural Attributes on the Performance of New Ventures

Using the data collected from 527 new ventures in China, this research evaluates the effects of top management team (TMT) heterogeneous background and behavioural attributes on firm's performance. Behavioural aspects of cognitive and emotional conflicts within the team are served as mediators. The results of the study indicate that the TMT functional background heterogeneity is positively related to both cognitive conflicts and emotional conflicts within the TMT. Moreover, team conflicts are found to mediate the effects of TMT functional background diversity on new ventures' performance. However, TMT functional background diversity alone is not significantly related to financial performance or growth performance of new ventures. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Creative self-efficacy and individual creativity in team contexts: Cross-level interactions with team informational resources.

We propose a cross-level perspective on the relation between creative self-efficacy and individual creativity in which team informational resources, comprising both shared "knowledge of who knows what" (KWKW) and functional background diversity, benefit the creativity of individuals more with higher creative self-efficacy. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a multi-level study with 176 employees working in 34 research and development teams of a multinational company in 4 countries. In support of our hypotheses, the link between creative self-efficacy and individual creativity was more positive with greater shared KWKW, and this interactive effect was pronounced for teams of high rather than low functional background diversity. We discuss implications for the study of creative self-efficacy in team contexts.

Justice in Self-Managing Teams: The Role of Social Networks in the Emergence of Procedural Justice Climates

Drawing upon organizational justice and social network theories, we examined the role of social network structure and content in the development of justice climates in self-managing teams, a relatively understudied context in the justice literature. Data from 79 project teams were used to test the hypotheses. Our results indicate that team instrumental network density is positively related to procedural justice climate strength and that this relationship is strengthened by low team functional background diversity. In addition, team expressive network density and team self-monitoring interact to reduce variability in member perceptions of procedural justice and thus strengthen justice climates.

Diversity & internationalization: The case of boards and TMT's

Using a mixed US and European sample where both the board and TMT units are analyzed at the same time, we test the variables age, tenure and functional background. We extend the information/decision making perspective ( Williams & O’Reilly, 1998) to both TMTs and boards by analyzing them as separate but related entities. In line with our hypotheses we find a positive effect on internationalization for functional background diversity of both boards and TMTs. Contrary to our expectations longer TMT tenure and younger board age also have a positive effect on internationalization.

TMT Educational and Functional Background Diversity, Team Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of CEO Empowering Leadership.

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. ArticlesTMT Educational and Functional Background Diversity, Team Mechanisms and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of CEO Empowering Leadership.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2010.54498889AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractThe article examines the moderating role of chief executive officer (CEO) empowering leadership in the relationship between top management team (TMT) diversity and firm performance. The mediating effects of team learning behavior and collective team identification on the relationships among TMT educational and functional background diversity, CEO empowering leadership and corporate performance are explored. Team learning behavior is defined as a team process that is connected to the information/decision-making perspective while collective team identification is described as an emergent state that is associated with the social categorization perspective.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2010, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 August 2010 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsOCCUPATIONAL rolesCHIEF executive officersLEADERSHIPDIVERSITY in the workplaceORGANIZATIONAL learningDECISION makingDownload PDF

Leader—Member Exchange as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Work Group Diversity and Team Performance

This study tests a moderator of the association between diversity and work group performance: leader—member exchange (LMX). The authors theorized performance effects associated with the differentiation and aggregate level of the dyadic LMX relationships in work groups and that the nature of these LMX effects would vary qualitatively as a function of work group diversity. The model was tested with a U.S. military operational simulation, including 224 high-ranking officers in 65 temporary work groups. Results indicate that LMX interacted with work group gender diversity, such that in more gender diverse groups LMX differentiation was positively associated with work group performance when aggregate LMX was high (above the median); among less gender diverse groups, LMX differentiation was not associated with performance when aggregate LMX was high, consistent with prior research. No effects of gender diversity were found among work groups reporting low aggregate LMX or with regard to group member functional background diversity.

Top Management Team Functional Background Diversity and Firm Performance: Examining The Roles of Team Member Colocation and Environmental Uncertainty

Prior findings on the association between top management team (TMT) functional diversity and firm performance have been inconsistent. We consider the moderating effects of internal context (colocation of TMT members) and external context (environmental uncertainty) on the TMT diversity-firm performance relationship. Additionally, we consider both dominant and intrapersonal functional diversity. In our results from 207 U.S. firms in 11 industries, the effects of TMT functional diversity on firm performance become more positive as the proportion of TMT members with offices in the same location increases. The effects of intrapersonal functional diversity also become more positive as environmental uncertainty increases.

The Influence of Organizational Demography on Customer-Oriented Prosocial Behavior: An Exploratory Investigation

This research examines the relationship between two constructs that so far have been studied independently of each other: organizational demography and prosocial organizational behavior (POB). Drawing on social psychology and organizational behavior literatures, we develop a conceptual framework that proposes how these constructs are interrelated. The framework suggests two hypotheses. First, diversity variables high in job-relatedness and low in visibility will be positively related to customer-oriented POB. Second, diversity variables low in job-relatedness and high in visibility will be negatively related to such POB. In a field study, we conduct a preliminary test of these predictions. Specifically, we use company records and questionnaire data (from a firm in the nonalcoholic beverage industry) to compute associations between demographic diversity and prosocial behavior in 223 work units. Results provide preliminary support for our hypotheses. Consistent with the first prediction, functional background diversity has a significant positive association (β = 0.26, p < 0.01) with the customer-oriented POB of work units, as does company tenure diversity (β = 0.16, p < 0.05). Consistent with the second prediction, gender diversity has a significant negative association (β = −0.13, p < 0.05) with customer-oriented POB; race diversity is also negatively related to POB (β = −0.11), but at a marginal significance level. These findings lend credence to our conceptual framework and suggest that further study of its components is warranted.